In this episode, we hear from Professor Barry Cooper from the University of Calgary about Alberta's rocky relationship with Ottawa, a clip from my recent conversation with the crew at Faith the Nation, and why the U.S. is likely to recognize an independent Alberta.
00:02:29.680settlers from the Orkneys, the Ebertys, the old Hudson Bay people, were ever partners.
00:02:36.160They've even had problems with B.C., but nothing compared to what it's been like from what's now the Prairie province.
00:02:41.820You know, common sense dictates that you do not negotiate from a position of weakness.
00:02:47.920It also tells us that those who have taken power don't just simply give it back.
00:02:54.480Something many Canadians and even Albertans ignore is for how long Western provinces have been trying to get a fair deal out of Confederation.
00:03:04.260Alberta, specifically, has tried multiple ways, multiple times, and for multiple decades, with little to no success.
00:03:12.680So the notion that we can try to fix Canada from inside is nothing more than wishful thinking.
00:03:21.200Names like Peter Lougheed, Preston Manning, and even Stephen Harper come to mind on a long list of Canadians and proud Albertans
00:03:30.740who have tried to get a fair shake out of the rest of Canada, but ended up hitting a wall.
00:03:37.320Those who hold the power will never just give it away.
00:03:42.000From, you know, conservative standpoint, you know, for me, being a conservative and being a Christian and obviously loving my country,
00:03:51.680I would want, I'm actually rooting for Alberta's independence, but I would think that it would be really cool for Alberta itself to possibly become the 51st state.
00:04:06.320Um, what is your take on the Alberta situation?
00:04:11.840Would you prefer, um, complete independence or are you hoping for 51st state?
00:04:17.720Where's, uh, where do you kind of lean in all of that?
00:04:20.060Well, personally, I'm just open-minded.
00:04:23.780I believe, as a base level, that Alberta, for one, culturally and even geographically just aligns better with the United States.
00:04:35.420You look at the culture of Albertans today and even for the past hundred years, we definitely have a lot more in common with people in Montana, Idaho, Texas.
00:04:45.600A good 25% of the ranchers when Alberta was being settled came from Oklahoma, Texas, and Montana.
00:04:53.580So historically, there's that connection there.
00:04:56.220Uh, but the way I view it is I'm open-minded.
00:04:58.720We definitely need to probably go at the Texas way first.
00:05:07.180We need to see how we do, whether we can sit on our own two feet.
00:05:10.440Uh, but what I can say is also that that is something that would likely be put to a vote once Alberta gets to that point.
00:05:18.040If there's a large enough amount of the population of the new, you know, Alberta citizens, if you will, that want to become a part of the United States, well, there's probably going to be some sort of negotiation.
00:05:30.500Would I prefer being part of the United States as opposed to staying in the situation that Alberta's in today?
00:05:36.800Yes, but I also want to find out what an independent nation of Alberta looks like.
00:05:42.600Uh, when, when does the, when is the referendum going to happen?
00:05:50.740Well, the, uh, it's before the courts now.
00:05:53.620I don't know if you heard, but the, um, elections Alberta, the bureaucrats in there decided to send it, uh, for further analysis of its constitutionality.
00:06:03.300Uh, basically adding red tape, creating some sort of a delay tactic to make things, you know, to have the anti-independence one, take the spotlight.
00:06:12.900Uh, we'll see how that works, but yeah, it's before the courts now, elections Alberta, APP, uh, deposited into elections Alberta and the bureaucrat, the top guy sent it before a judge.
00:06:23.740Uh, that's already in the process, uh, there's going to be hearings, uh, the lawyers from the APP are going to be making the case that it is constitutional.
00:06:32.060It's actually, it actually should take precedent over the other one because it's an actual constitutional question as opposed to a policy question.
00:06:39.480We're still aiming for spring of 2026 to, to get that referendum going.
00:06:45.240You said 60% of her base is, uh, supporting of, uh, separation, annexing, whatever it's called, so on and so forth.
00:06:52.840So, like, real world, in terms of Alberta population, what, what are, what are those numbers dissolve into?
00:06:58.380What does it look like when you talk about, when you go to Starbucks or in the street?
00:07:01.560You know, is this like a realistic thing in terms of random conversations or random chatter that's happening in the real world?
00:07:08.080They did a poll recently. Two-thirds of her base support Alberta independence, but that doesn't mean two-thirds of Albertans.
00:07:15.800There's been, there's been polling, which tells us kind of where we're at, more or less.
00:07:20.580The lowest polling has shown that a third of Albertans, that's 33%.
00:07:24.900And mind you, this pollster, because you know not all polls are created equal, right?
00:07:28.540You know that a lot of them come with their own biases.
00:07:30.280So, this pollster is left-leaning, heavy left-leaning, and he put it at 33%.
00:07:36.320Unprecedented. It's never gone up that high.
00:07:39.180And then a more centrist to right-leaning pollster had it mid-40s.
00:07:45.480I'm talking 45, I think, which, again, this is a real number.
00:07:51.140And obviously, the cities is a bit more difficult, because cities tend to be more left-leaning.
00:07:55.820But you go to rural Alberta, and a lot of people are talking about it.
00:08:00.740A lot of people are putting down those maple leaves and raising Alberta flags.
00:08:04.740A lot of Albertans feel like there's just no hope here.
00:08:07.220So, you can hear it at the doors, mostly in rural and the suburbs.